L322 1st hard frost = electrical gremlins

This site contains affiliate links for which LandyZone may be compensated if you make a purchase.
R

RRkev

Active Member
Posts
430
Location
Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire
hi guys got a slight electrical issue after last nights frost (first time we've seen temp hit freezing point around here), anyway started the car this morning and first thing i noticed was the lower section of the lcd display didn't flash up the air suspension fault (which raised it's head again after a week) i then went on to notice the indicator and main beam warning lights on the instrument cluster not working either, when i press the right hand button on the cluster check control ok does not flash up, but if i hold the button longer it does go into test mode. all the exterior lights are working fine, am i right in thinking this is caused by the LCM module? got damp it it and frozen maybe or just gone faulty.
 
First thing with all these cars is to make sure the battery is in tip top condition cold nights n frost can kill a weak battery and these cars have a lot of toys on them which drain it, get it on a charger or just swop it out for new once they start to go its not long before a complete failure
 
One thing I have learnt is that if I ignore some of the problems my vehicle presents, they do tend to go away.
That was an expensive lesson though as I used to replace everything that showed even the slightest inclination of having a fault.
The tendency subsided when I could no longer afford to eat or buy shoes.
 
It's very tricky without good diagnostics that are specific to the Range Rover as you know , I have always liked the allcomms even over the faultmate I picked up cheap.
It's a bit like trying to fix a 10+ year old PC using Windows 3.1, opening the side of your PC case and starting to swap out bits that could be completely unrelated to the problem, when the real problem was caused by looking up dirt on the tinternet or in our case driving through it....in tomcats case, both
 
Yes they can be a right p.i.t.a I thought I had LCM issues last year when the stop lights were coming on after turning the ignition off, turned out the brake light switch had moved back in its collar away from the pedal, it initially caused a non start so 3 days stripping bits out cleaning & testing, hence why I have a spare LCM on the shelf, everything that's not working is pointing to it.
 
holidaychicken said:
It's very tricky without good diagnostics that are specific to the Range Rover as you know , I have always liked the allcomms even over the faultmate I picked up cheap.
It's a bit like trying to fix a 10+ year old PC using Windows 3.1, opening the side of your PC case and starting to swap out bits that could be completely unrelated to the problem, when the real problem was caused by looking up dirt on the tinternet or in our case driving through it....in tomcats case, both
Click to expand...
Oh, you have a very low opion of me, how many pints of milk does your saucer take?:)
 
just to put this to bed, the fault is now fixed, no idea what caused it, i removed and unplugged the LCM, checked it for signs of moisture and there was nothing, plugged it back in and now it works so guessing a power reset of some description. probably easiest fix i've ever done!
 
tomcat59alan said:
Oh, you have a very low opion of me, how many pints of milk does your saucer take?:)
Click to expand...
No not at all but you do have broad shoulders and I like somebody that can give it as well as take it , oh young man !!

OP, glad it seems fixed, I lost all my dash warning lights once and as a last resort took out the dash clock cluster and put it back and to my surprise it was fixed and has been ever since. I think with all the various ECUs they need the turn off and back on fix occasionally or just a simple dodgy connection .
 
RRkev said:
well the bad news is it's failed again, so now looking into the bmw tool to recode a used lcm for the car
Click to expand...

Is Hawkeye giving you any fault codes or could you borrow an Allcomms to point you in the right direction as it could be something connected to your LCM causing the issue rather than the LCM itself.
I had a load of light bulb failure warnings showing on my dashboard last year which turned out to be dodgy LED numberplate bulbs going into meltdown, although the number plate bulb warning was one of the only warnings that didn't show up.
 
holidaychicken said:
Is Hawkeye giving you any fault codes or could you borrow an Allcomms to point you in the right direction as it could be something connected to your LCM causing the issue rather than the LCM itself.
I had a load of light bulb failure warnings showing on my dashboard last year which turned out to be dodgy LED numberplate bulbs going into meltdown, although the number plate bulb warning was one of the only warnings that didn't show up.
Click to expand...

well here is where i have got to this morning, plugged in the 2nd LCM that i have here and today it never cleared the fault (bearing in mind it was getting warm yesterday and is quite moist out this morning) again same issues but all exterior lights working ok, first thing i noticed after fitting replacement LCM was the little black 'tamper' dot by the milage did not come on either. unfortunately the hawkeye does not cover lcm/instrument cluster but i did have other error codes (i'll post these further down) last night i emailed a company on eBay that repair LCM units they do not think the issue lies within the LCM either, they have said that a fault they have seen on many range rovers the age of mine is moisture getting into the wiring plugs at the back of the instrument cluster causing corroded pins and other problems. this to me seems logical as it's cold and damp out this morning and was warming up yesterday morning and could have been just enough to make things work.
something else i've noticed is i'm not getting messages on the lower display on the cluster i.e headlamp delay on, door open etc etc, i guess these are also fed through the i or k bus to the cluster pointing in that direction again

only error codes i have which i'm pretty sure aren't related but need to look them up.
ABS no message from ride height control
SUSPENSION articulation validity sporadic fault, fault currently present
SECURITY key 4 random code tolerance increased
 
Last edited:
It's not a bad job to take out the instrument cluster, as with all jobs, if you know how, I've done mine about 3 times so far.
I wouldn't think the faults shown are related but as you say, if the hawkeye doesn't cover the LCM or instrument cluster then probably not going to show anything anyway.
You could always leave it running with the heaters on full bore to see if it improves to try and back up your theory but i would be either taking out the instrument cluster or trying to borrow an allcomms as that will check both LCM and Instrument cluster.

This may be of interest
https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/instrument-cluster-illumination-lights-failed.231256/
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

The Wombat
Discovery Td5 Instrument cluster config or programming
Replies
5
Views
1K
sierrafery
sierrafery
Philygoat
Intro to Electrical help with LED's
Replies
4
Views
748
Philygoat
Philygoat
R
L322 electrical issues
Replies
9
Views
2K
rik^^
R
A
Help D3 Suspension
Replies
3
Views
1K
Andrew bibby
A
A
Help Needed - Freelander 1 facelift front fogs
Replies
6
Views
347
Nodge68
Nodge68
Back
Top